Acres Of Diamonds - Russell Conwell.pdf - SELF HELP - prinss91

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[Editor’s note: Dr. Russell Conwell, who was the founder of Temple

University, delivered this lecture over 6,000 times. This is the most

recent and complete form of the lecture. It happened to be delivered in

Philadelphia, Dr. Conwell's home city. When he says ``right here in

Philadelphia,'' he means the home city, town, or village of every

reader of this book, just as he would use the name of it if delivering

the lecture there, instead of doing it through the pages that follow.]

When going down the Tigris and Euphrates rivers many

years ago with a party of English travelers I found myself

under the direction of an old Arab guide whom we hired up at

Bagdad, and I have often thought how that guide resembled

our barbers in certain mental characteristics. He thought that

it was not only his duty to guide us down those rivers, and do

what he was paid for doing, but also to entertain us with

stories curious and weird, ancient and modern, strange and

familiar. Many of them I have forgotten, and I am glad I have,

but there is one I shall never forget.

The old guide was leading my camel by its halter along

the banks of those ancient rivers, and he told me story after

story until I grew weary of his story telling and ceased to

listen. I have never been irritated with that guide when he lost

his temper as I ceased listening. But I remember that he took

off his Turkish cap and swung it in a circle to get my

attention. I could see it through the corner of my eye, but I

determined not to look straight at him for fear he would tell

another story. But although I am not a woman, I did finally

look, and as soon as I did he went right into another story.

Said he, ``I will tell you a story now which I reserve for

my particular friends.'' When he emphasized the words

``particular friends,'' I listened, and I have ever been glad I did.

I really feel devoutly thankful, that there are 1,674 young men

who have been carried through college by this lecture who are

also glad that I did listen. The old guide told me that there

once lived not far from the River Indus an ancient Persian by

the name of Ali Hafed. He said that Ali Hafed owned a very

large farm, that he had orchards, grain fields, and gardens;

that he had money at interest, and was a wealthy and

contented man. He was contented because he was wealthy,

and wealthy because he was contented. One day there visited

that old Persian farmer one of these ancient Buddhist priests,

one of the wise men of the East. He sat down by the fire and

told the old farmer how this world of ours was made. He said

that this world was once a mere bank of fog, and that the

Almighty thrust His finger into this bank of fog, and began

slowly to move His finger around, increasing the speed until at

last He whirled this bank of fog into a solid ball of fire. Then it

went rolling through the universe, burning its way through

other banks of fog, and condensed the moisture without, until

it fell in floods of rain upon its hot surface, and cooled the

outward crust. Then the internal fires bursting outward

through the crust threw up the mountains and hills, the

valleys, the plains and prairies of this wonderful world of ours.

If this internal molten mass came bursting out and cooled very

quickly it became granite; less quickly copper, less quickly

silver, less quickly gold, and, after gold, diamonds were made.

Said the old priest, ``A diamond is a congealed drop of

sunlight.'' Now that is literally scientifically true, that a

diamond is an actual deposit of carbon from the sun. The old

priest told Ali Hafed that if he had one diamond the size of his

thumb he could purchase the county, and if he had a mine of

diamonds he could place his children upon thrones through

the influence of their great wealth.

Ali Hafed heard all about diamonds, how much they were

worth, and went to his bed that night a poor man. He had not

lost anything, but he was poor because he was discontented,

and discontented because he feared he was poor. He said, ``I

want a mine of diamonds,'' and he lay awake all night.

Early in the morning he sought out the priest. I know by

experience that a priest is very cross when awakened early in

the morning, and when he shook that old priest out of his

dreams, Ali Hafed said to him:

``Will you tell me where I can find diamonds?''

``Diamonds! What do you want with diamonds?'' ``Why, I

wish to be immensely rich.'' ``Well, then, go along and find

them. That is all you have to do; go and find them, and then

you have them.'' ``But I don't know where to go.'' ``Well, if you

will find a river that runs through white sands, between high

mountains, in those white sands you will always find

diamonds.'' ``I don't believe there is any such river.'' ``Oh yes,

there are plenty of them. All you have to do is to go and find

them, and then you have them.'' Said Ali Hafed, ``I will go.''

So he sold his farm, collected his money, left his family in

charge of a neighbor, and away he went in search of

diamonds. He began his search, very properly to my mind, at

the Mountains of the Moon. Afterward he came around into

Palestine, then wandered on into Europe, and at last when his

money was all spent and he was in rags, wretchedness, and

poverty, he stood on the shore of that bay at Barcelona, in

Spain, when a great tidal wave came rolling in between the

pillars of Hercules, and the poor, afflicted, suffering, dying

man could not resist the awful temptation to cast himself into

that incoming tide, and he sank beneath its foaming crest,

never to rise in this life again.

When that old guide had told me that awfully sad story

he stopped the camel I was riding on and went back to fix the

baggage that was coming off another camel, and I had an

opportunity to muse over his story while he was gone. I

remember saying to myself, ``Why did he reserve that story for

his `particular friends'?'' There seemed to be no beginning, no

middle, no end, nothing to it. That was the first story I had

ever heard told in my life, and would be the first one I ever

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